UFC Predictions: UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar predictions and picks

#2 UFC Welterweight Division: Carlos Condit vs. Matt Brown

Carlos Condit broke a five-fight UFC losing streak by beating Court McGee in 2020.

Well, it’s hard not to be a little frustrated by this matchmaking. If you rewind, say, six years, this would’ve been an absolute dream match between two of the UFC’s best – and most aggressive – Welterweights. It could even have been seen as a title eliminator.

In 2021, though? Unfortunately, both Condit and Brown are miles past their prime, and so the winner is more likely to be the man who can weather punishment the best. With Condit being 36 years old and Brown 40 years old, even that’s a bit of a question mark.

Brown initially hung up his UFC gloves in 2017 after a final win over Diego Sanchez, but surprisingly returned in 2019. UFC 245 saw him knock out the equally past-his-prime Ben Saunders, but his only UFC fight of 2020 saw him brutally taken out by hot prospect Miguel Baeza.

It was the kind of loss that probably should’ve made The Immortal reconsider his future. But as we all know, MMA is a tricky game to get out of.

Condit, meanwhile, had a much more successful 2020 than Brown. Initially retiring from the UFC in 2016, The Natural Born Killer returned in 2017 but kept on losing and found himself on a five-fight slide at the start of last year.

However, he turned back the clock – sort of – and out-pointed UFC veteran Court McGee in October. It wasn’t a vintage showing from Condit, but he did display the kind of skills that got him to the top of the UFC all those years ago – crisp combination striking, dangerous grappling, and a strong cardio base.

So who’s got more left in the tank then? I’m leaning towards Condit, and not only because he won a fight in 2020. Essentially, even during his recent slide, The Natural Born Killer didn’t look like a brittle fighter.

Sure, he lost five in a row, but in most of those losses, his oldest weakness – a lack of takedown defense – cost him dearly. He was never as susceptible to submissions in his prime as he is now, but then Brown isn’t a submission specialist.

The Immortal, on the other hand, does look like the kind of fighter who can no longer weather the punishment that he once could. For me, Condit still has enough about him to catch Brown with something nasty. And if he can do that, I think he’ll end up with his hand raised in somewhat of a sad fight.

The Pick: Condit via second-round TKO